BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:adamgibbons/ics METHOD:PUBLISH X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VEVENT UID:22016@offbeat.amsterdam SUMMARY:Opening Refugee Welcome Week 2026 DTSTAMP:20260507T185045Z DTSTART:20260608T160000Z DESCRIPTION:This year\, Refugee Welcome Week NL is guided by the theme Radi cal Hope &\nCourage.\n\nRadical hope is not naive optimism\, but an empowe ring practice. It asks us to\nface reality honestly\, even when it is pain ful\, while still believing that\nchange is possible and worth working for . This opening evening of Refugee\nWelcome Week 2026 creates space for the truths that are too often blurred\,\navoided\, or polished for others. Re fugee status tells us where someone has been\,\nnot who they are. Facing t his truth is where the possibilities begin. This\nevening is not about ref ugees. It is an evening by refugees\, inspiring creators\nof their own des tiny in a new cultural space.\n\nThe evening begins with a community dinne r at 18:00. For €25\,50\, you are welcome\nto join the table for the commu nity dinner in the Grote Zaal. Just like last\nyear\, you can buy a Solida rity Ticket along with your own\, to invite a refugee\nto eat with you. Re fugee Welcome Week will make sure someone receives the\ndonated ticket.\n\ nAfter we connect and dine together\, we will officially kick off this wee k with a\ncoalition panel with the organisers and partners. From 20:00 onw ards\, artists\nand storytellers take the floor across three breakout spac es\, inviting the\naudience to poetic\, theatrical\, zine-making and co-cr eation experiences.\nThroughout the evening\, a curated visual art exhibit ion reminds us that\ndisplacement is not an identity. It is a circumstance .\n\nIf you only wish to join the programme from 20:00\, please select a f ree ticket.\n\nTransportation support is available for people living in AZ Cs or shelters\noutside of Amsterdam. Feel free to reach out to us at\npro gram@refugeewelcomeweek.nl [program@refugeewelcomeweek.nl].\n\nJoined by S ajad Salmanpour Founder of Queer Work\, author & community builder\n[https ://www.queerwork.eu] Elena Ponzoni Researcher at Sociology and coordinator \nof the Refugee Academy (VU)\n[https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-ponzoni- 448b0a26/] Anas Younes Theatre\npractitioner\, cultural researcher & curat or\n[https://www.linkedin.com/in/anas-younes-07b98b129/] Naya Aljoudi Spok en word\nartist\, author and decolonial researcher\n[https://www.instagram .com/theydontexist_/] Mohammed Badran\n[https://www.facebook.com/mohammed. yukitron?ref=br_rs]\n\n\nABOUT REFUGEE WELCOME WEEK NL 2026\n\nRefugee Wel come Week NL 2026 is a refugee-led programme bringing together 30–40\nyoun g refugees and newcomers across four Dutch cities. Over two weeks\,\nparti cipants take the lead as performers\, curators\, hosts\, producers and\nst orytellers\, creating spaces of connection through art\, discussion\, film \,\nmusic\, food and community action. Refugee Welcome Week NL is part of the wider\ninternational Refugee Week movement and is organised in close p artnership with\nRefugee Week UK. Explore the full programme at refugeewel comeweek.nl\n[https://www.refugeewelcomeweek.nl].\n\nTime table 17:00 - 22 :00 Meetingroom | Exhibiton\n\nMore info about the exhibtion and participa ting artists will soon be announced.\n\n18:00 - 20:00 Grote Zaal | Communi ty dinner & kick-off\n\nMore info about the panel and participating speake rs will be announced soon.\n\n20:15 - 21:15 Workspace | Truth\, Resistance & Refugee Voices\n\nAs refugees we are often seen primarily as recipients of help\, but many of us\nare dedicated to activism and human right prote ction in our destination country.\nWhat does it mean to dedicate a life of displacement to protect human rights in\na new country? How can our own e xperience of exile help us to raise awareness\nabout human right dismantle ment happening in current times? And do we build\nresistance to stigma and far-right propaganda by sharing different perspectives\nand narratives ?\ n\nIn this session we will listen to experiences of human right activists with\nrefugee backgrounds operating in different contexts (Netherlands and South\nAfrica) and reflect together through co-creative exercises to unde rstand what\ntheir experience teaches us about today’s theme: What truth d o we need to face\nto stop repeating harm?\n\n20:15 - 21:15 Expo | A Lette r Full of Love to an Non-Person: On queer\nstorytelling & refugee narrativ es\n\nThis programme presents A Letter Full of Love to a Non-Person\, a co llective book\nproject created through community writing workshops with LG BTQI+ refugees.\nParticipants are invited to create a small zine using wor ds\, drawings\, or\nfragments. This hands-on activity explores storytellin g in an accessible and\ncreative way.\n\n20:30 - 21:30 Studio | On Anger a nd Fatigue\n\nOn Anger and Fatigue is an artistic research and lecture-per formance that\ninvestigates the relationship between truth-telling\, exhau stion\, and resistance\nwithin the contemporary European Art worlds. The w ork merges the aesthetics of\nthe performative lecture with the oral tradi tion of storytelling\, creating a\nhybrid form that oscillates between aca demic critique and poetic confession.\n\n\nABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS\n\nSajad Salmanpour is an author\, community builder\, and the founder of Queer Wo rk\,\na platform dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ refugees in the Netherlan ds. His work\nis rooted in the belief that storytelling is a powerful act of presence a way to\nreclaim voice\, identity\, and belonging in the face of displacement. He is the\ninitiator of the collective book project A Le tter Full of Love to an Unknown\nPerson. As an author\, Sajad is intereste d in the intersection of memory\,\nmigration\, and identity. He sees writi ng not only as expression\, but as a form\nof connection between past and present\, between individuals and communities\, and\nbetween silence and v isibility.\n\nAlongside his creative work\, he actively builds collaborati ons with\norganizations\, cultural spaces\, and networks across the Nether lands\,\ncontributing to initiatives such as Refugee Welcome Week. His app roach bridges\nstorytelling with social impact\, creating moments where vo ices are not only\nheard\, but held and recognized. At the heart of his wo rk is a quiet but powerful\nintention: to create space where people can ex ist fully\, and where their stories\ncan live beyond them.\n\nElena Ponzon i is an academic researcher working from the principle of Radical\nHope\, which involves humility and recognition of the lessons\, knowledges\, and\ npractices of communities that experience injustice. It involves learning from\nthe ability of those who\, despite oppression and structures of impo ssibility\,\nfind the capacity to act\, care\, love and challenge power.\n \nRefugee Academy\, initiated together with professor Halleh Ghorashi\, ha s the goal\nof centring refugee knowledges in research and society. Now pa rt of the\nCo-creation for Inclusive Knowledges Lab\, Refugee Academy foll ows the principle\nof Radical Hope by creating small acts of resistance to transform academic\ninstitutions\, and challenge both colonial heritages and hierarchies engrained in\nhow we create (academic) knowledge. It means working with people with lived\nexperiences and collective wisdom that ar e currently marginalised\, having the\ncourage to address power differenti als\, and intertwine our work\, perspective and\nlives.\n\nAnas Younes is a theatre practitioner\, cultural researcher\, and curator working\nacross Syria and the Netherlands. His practice connects performance\,\nparticipa tory theatre\, cultural policy\, and public programming\, with a focus on\ nhow art can create spaces for dialogue\, collective reflection\, and soci al\nimagination in contexts shaped by conflict\, displacement\, and migrat ion. He has\ncollaborated with cultural institutions\, municipalities\, fe stivals\, and\ngrassroots initiatives across Europe and the Arab region as a facilitator\,\nlecturer\, curator\, and artistic programmer. In the Net herlands\, he has worked\nwith organizations such as SPOT Groningen\, Vrij dag\, municipalities\, and newcomer\ncenters\, using theatre as a tool for participation\, inclusion\, and intercultural\nexchange.\n\nAnas also cur ated public programs for Mena is Here Festival and contributed to\nDiwan A rts and Culture Festival in Switzerland. He is the director of Culture\nTa nk Factory\, a Syrian think-and-do tank focused on cultural rights\, civic \nimagination\, and participatory approaches to public policy. Through thi s work\,\nhe develops research labs\, policy discussions\, and community-b ased initiatives\nlinking artistic practice with justice\, governance\, an d collective futures.\n\nNaya Aljoudi is a Syrian artist\, whose poetry is a tool to combat the systemic\nerasure that writes many intersectional id entities out of their own biographies.\nTheir work moves through war\, exi le\, and trauma\, while returning to love and\ncare\, practices of both su rvival and defiance\, and collective becoming. On\nstage\, Naya offers per formances that invite audiences to question language as a\ntechnology of r esistance against censorship and harm\, and whether it can serve\nas a too l for collective liberation.\n\nMohammed Badran is a Palestinian-Syrian so cial designer\, anthropologist\, and\ncommunity organizer based in Amsterd am. He is the co-founder of Syrian\nVolunteers Netherlands \, where he dev elops initiatives that connect diaspora\nexpertise\, refugee-led advocacy\ , and cultural programming. URL:https://offbeat.amsterdam/event/opening-refugee-welcome-week-2026 GEO:52.376857;4.9220756 LOCATION:Pakhuis de Zwijger - Piet Heinkade 179\, 1019 HC Amsterdam STATUS:CONFIRMED CATEGORIES:activism,amsterdam-centrum,books,community,dinner,discussion,eas tern docklands,exhibition,festivals,film,food,lecture,live,music,opening,p erformance,poetry,queer,refugees,social,stories,storytelling,theater X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:This year, Refugee Welcome Week NL is guided b y the theme Radical Hope & Courage.

Radical hope is not naive optim ism, but an empowering practice. It asks us to face reality honestly, even when it is painful, while still believing that change is possible and wor th working for. This opening evening of Refugee Welcome Week 2026 creates space for the truths that are too often blurred, avoided, or polished for others. Refugee status tells us where someone has been, not who they are. Facing this truth is where the possibilities begin. This evening is not ab out refugees. It is an evening by refugees, inspiring creators of their ow n destiny in a new cultural space.

The evening begins with a comm unity dinner at 18:00. For €25,50, you a re welcome to join the table for the community dinner in the Grote Zaal. < strong>Just like last year, you can buy a Solidarity Ticket along with you r own, to invite a refugee to eat with you. Refugee Welcome Week will make sure someone receives the donated ticket.

After we conne ct and dine together, we will officially kick off this week with a coaliti on panel with the organisers and partners. From 20:00 onw ards, artists and storytellers take the floor across three breakout spaces , inviting the audience to poetic, theatrical, zine-making and co-creation experiences. Throughout the evening, a curated visual art exhibition remi nds us that displacement is not an identity. It is a circumstance.

If you only wish to join the programme from 20:00, please select a fr ee ticket.

Transportation support is available for peo ple living in AZCs or shelters outside of Amsterdam. Feel free to reach ou t to us at program@refugeew elcomeweek.nl.

Joined by Sajad Salmanpour Founder of Queer Work, author &a mp; community builder Elena Ponzoni Researcher at Sociology an d coordinator of the Refugee Academy (VU) Anas Younes Theatre p ractitioner, cultural researcher & curator Naya Aljoudi Spoken word artist, author and decolonial researcher Mohammed Badran

About Refugee Welcome Week NL 2026

Refugee Welcome Week NL 2026 is a refugee-led programme bringing together 30–40 young refugees and newcomers across four Dutch cities. Over two weeks, participants take the lead as performers, curators, hosts, producers and storytellers, creat ing spaces of connection through art, discussion, film, music, food and co mmunity action. Refugee Welcome Week NL is part of the wider international Refugee Week movement and is organised in close partnership with Refugee Week UK. Explore the full programme at refugeewelcomeweek.nl.

Time table 1 7:00 - 22:00 Meetingroom | Exhibiton

More info about the exhibtion and participating artists will soon be announced.

18:00 - 20:00 Grote Z aal | Community dinner & kick-off

More info about the panel and par ticipating speakers will be announced soon.

20:15 - 21:15 Workspace | Truth, Resistance & Refugee Voices

As refugees we are often see n primarily as recipients of help, but many of us are dedicated to activis m and human right protection in our destination country. What does it mean to dedicate a life of displacement to protect human rights in a new count ry? How can our own experience of exile help us to raise awareness about h uman right dismantlement happening in current times? And do we build resis tance to stigma and far-right propaganda by sharing different perspectives and narratives ?

In this session we will listen to experiences of human right activists with refugee backgrounds operating in different cont exts (Netherlands and South Africa) and reflect together through co-creati ve exercises to understand what their experience teaches us about today’s theme: What truth do we need to face to stop repeating harm?

20:15 - 21:15 Expo | A Letter Full of Love to an Non-Person: On queer storytelli ng & refugee narratives

This programme presents A Letter Full o f Love to a Non-Person, a collective book project created through com munity writing workshops with LGBTQI+ refugees. Participants are invited t o create a small zine using words, drawings, or fragments. This hands-on a ctivity explores storytelling in an accessible and creative way.

20 :30 - 21:30 Studio | On Anger and Fatigue

On Anger and Fatigue is an artistic research and lecture-performance that investigates the rel ationship between truth-telling, exhaustion, and resistance within the con temporary European Art worlds. The work merges the aesthetics of the perfo rmative lecture with the oral tradition of storytelling, creating a hybrid form that oscillates between academic critique and poetic confession.

About the contributors

Sajad Salmanpour is an author, community builder, and the founder of Queer Work, a platform dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ refugees in the Netherl ands. His work is rooted in the belief that storytelling is a powerful act of presence a way to reclaim voice, identity, and belonging in the face o f displacement. He is the initiator of the collective book project A L etter Full of Love to an Unknown Person. As an author, Sajad is inter ested in the intersection of memory, migration, and identity. He sees writ ing not only as expression, but as a form of connection between past and p resent, between individuals and communities, and between silence and visib ility.

Alongside his creative work, he actively builds collaboratio ns with organizations, cultural spaces, and networks across the Netherland s, contributing to initiatives such as Refugee Welcome Week. His approach bridges storytelling with social impact, creating moments where voices are not only heard, but held and recognized. At the heart of his work is a qu iet but powerful intention: to create space where people can exist fully, and where their stories can live beyond them.

Elena Ponzoni is an academic researcher working from the principle of Radical Hope, which involves humility and recognition of the lessons, knowledges, and practices of communities that experience injustice. It involves learni ng from the ability of those who, despite oppression and structures of imp ossibility, find the capacity to act, care, love and challenge power.

Refugee Academy, initiated together with professor Ha lleh Ghorashi, has the goal of centring refugee knowledges in research and society. Now part of the Co-creation for Inclusive Knowledges Lab, Refuge e Academy follows the principle of Radical Hope by creating small acts of resistance to transform academic institutions, and challenge both colonial heritages and hierarchies engrained in how we create (academic) knowledge . It means working with people with lived experiences and collective wisdo m that are currently marginalised, having the courage to address power dif ferentials, and intertwine our work, perspective and lives.

Anas Younes is a theatre practitioner, cultural researcher, and curator working across Syria and the Netherlands. His practice connects pe rformance, participatory theatre, cultural policy, and public programming, with a focus on how art can create spaces for dialogue, collective reflec tion, and social imagination in contexts shaped by conflict, displacement, and migration. He has collaborated with cultural institutions, municipali ties, festivals, and grassroots initiatives across Europe and the Arab reg ion as a facilitator, lecturer, curator, and artistic programmer. In the N etherlands, he has worked with organizations such as SPOT Groningen, Vrijd ag, municipalities, and newcomer centers, using theatre as a tool for part icipation, inclusion, and intercultural exchange.

Anas also curate d public programs for Mena is Here Festival and contributed to Diwan Arts and Culture Festival in Switzerland. He is the director of Culture Tank Factory, a Syrian think-and-do tank focu sed on cultural rights, civic imagination, and participatory approaches to public policy. Through this work, he develops research labs, policy discu ssions, and community-based initiatives linking artistic practice with jus tice, governance, and collective futures.

Naya Aljoudi is a Syrian artist, whose poetry is a tool to combat the systemic era sure that writes many intersectional identities out of their own biographi es. Their work moves through war, exile, and trauma, while returning to lo ve and care, practices of both survival and defiance, and collective becom ing. On stage, Naya offers performances that invite audiences to question language as a technology of resistance against censorship and harm, and wh ether it can serve as a tool for collective liberation.

Moh ammed Badran is a Palestinian-Syrian social designer, anthropolog ist, and community organizer based in Amsterdam. He is the co-founder of S yrian Volunteers Netherlands , where he develops initiatives that connect diaspora expertise, refugee-led advocacy, and cultural programming.

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